Lagering Too Long

The maibock that I brewed as part of the Midwest Supplies Kit Review was bottled a couple of days ago.  I brewed it on a cold January night with snow on the ground and a soul crushing chill in the air.

Weather like that is good for one thing – chilling your wort to lager fermentation temperature without much effort using an immersion chiller.  Other than that, it’s pretty tough brewing outside.

With a target drinking time of next month (May), getting it into the bottle now was imperative.  I tried making time to bottle it sooner but for one reason or the other, I didn’t get the time to do it.  So the carboy sat in my fridge and the proteins and the yeast settled to the bottom and the beer cleared.

For nearly 12 weeks, the beer stayed in my fridge to condition and clarify.  It sat there silently, waiting for the day that it made it into bottle with some priming sugar to carbonate naturally.

I have to say because of the long lagering time, the beer was very clear.  The basement light shined right through it as I lifted it from the fridge.

I usually lager beers for no more than 8 weeks.  I tend to get impatient and my usual bottling time after lagering is six weeks.  So to go for nearly 12 weeks was making me feel like I was breaking my own rule.

I don’t think lagering for almost 3 months is going to be detrimental, but it did get me to thinking.

How long is too long to lager a beer?

At what point do you have to start thinking about reintroducing yeast to the beer if you are going to carbonate it in bottles?

What was the longest lagering time that you did for a beer?  What were the results?  Let us know by leaving a comment below.

Brew On.